BRUNSWICK
Colby-Bowdoin men’s hockey.
Tonight and Saturday is the yearly home-and-home series between the bitter New England Small College Athletic Conference rivals, with the teams meeting at Alfond Arena in Waterville tonight before getting it on at Bowdoin College’s Sidney J. Watson Arena Saturday night.
Bothgamesareslatedfora7p.m.start,withevery ticket for Saturday’s contest already scoffed up by eager fans expecting a classic battle.
“Hold on to your hat because if history is any indication, anything could happen,” said Bowdoin coach Terry Meagher, whose Polar Bears have won two straight to improve to 2-1-1 overall, including 0-1-1 in NESCAC play.
This year’s home-and-home series has a slightly different meaning for both teams. In year’s past, only one of the matchups counted toward the NESCAC standings. But, this time around both games are NESCAC contests.
“Every game against Colby counts,” said Meagher. “The game that wasn’t a league game still came around to count in looking at the overall record. There are few rivalries in Division Three hockey that are like this one. It is a special thing for both programs.
“For us, we have a lot of new moving parts. Positions were held by those who graduated, so we are still a work in progress.”
Bowdoin opened with a tie at Williams and a 7-1 loss to Middlebury, but has since rebounded in routing the University of New England 10-2 and defeating Salve Regina 5-2 in the Colby-Bowdoin Face-off Classic last weekend. The Polar Bears dropped a 2-1 decision to the U.S. Under-18 squad on Sunday, but Meagher was pleased with how his team played in the exhibition setback.
“We were tight defensively as a unit against Team USA, something I was pleased to see,” said Meagher.
Bowdoin has outscored its opponents 19-14 through four games. Tim McGarry has the hot stick with four goals and two assists for six points. Daniel Weiniger, Jordan Lalor, Robert Toczlowski and Ryan Collier each have two goals and two helpers, while Kyle Lockwood has picked up a pair of goals.
In goal, Steve Messina is 1-1-1 with a 3.93 goalsagainst average, while Richard Nerland sports a 2.61 GAA and a 1-0 record.
New leader for Mules
Stan Moore is the interim coach at Colby College after six years as an assistant at D-I Providence College, replacing veteran leader Jim Tortorella, who resigned to take an assistant coaching position at Hockey East power University of New Hampshire.
“It will be interesting to see how differently coach Moore has Colby playing,” said Meagher. “That is the most unknown thing going into this game, trying to figure out their structure.”
The Mules are 1-3, including 0-2 in the NESCAC. However, all three setbacks were by one goal (two in overtime). Colby also dropped a hard-fought 5-4 decision to Team USA.
“Colby didn’t lose much, and could be undefeated right now, but you are going to see runs, 1-3, 3-1, during the season,” said Meagher.
The Mules are paced by Chris Buonomo, Mike Doherty and Scott Harff with four points each (1 goal, three assists), while Jack Bartlett and Cory McGrath have put up two goals apiece. In goal, Matt Delaney is the starter, compiling a 3.49 GAA.
Doors at Watson Arena will open at 6 p.m. Saturday. No tickets are available for the game. However, the contest will be available online at http://athletics.bowdoin.edu/webcast.
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